Now and Then
by Choko-chi
Summary: It was happening again, and once again he was unable to keep them safe. But no more, he didn't want to go on without them! Warning: Contains spoilers for the series and the movie (nr. 6)


_So yeah, this was just something that I came up with when I was watching One Piece, and I kinda thought that there could be more behind the tears that Luffy shed at Sabaody. _

_**Warning:** Spoilers for One Piece and One piece movie 6. other than that it's just a sad fic. oh! And it's unbetaed :3 _

_**Disclaimer,** well yeah... I don't own a damn thing! But that's fine... kinda..._

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Now and Then.

He was hurt, just lying there, not able to do anything but watch, and it was terrible. The first one to disappear was Zoro. He didn't understand it at the time, didn't understand what was happening, as mentioned before, he was hurt, and it was hard to concentrate.

But slowly he understood. Somehow, Zoro was gone, and he didn't know how or why, he only knew that the big guy, Kuma, had something to do with it, and he wanted to know what he had done. He knew that somewhere behind him Chopper was going mad, not able to tell the difference between friend and foe in the state that he was in, but that didn't worry him, he knew that somehow, Chopper would be okay.

Or so he thought. He ordered them all to run, he knew, no matter how much it hurt to say it, he knew that at that point they were no mach against any of their opponents. So he ordered them to flee, they knew when to meet up, so they just had to get away. He saw Usopp try to get Sanji moving, knowing that the cook was in no shape to escape on his own.

But they were too slow, and once again someone disappeared. Brook had thrown himself in front of the other two, trying to protect them with his body, and just like Zoro, he disappeared. A cry of Brooks name was heard through the battlefield, but he was gone.

Then it was Usopp. Sanji tried to protect him, knowing that out of the two of them, he could handle more damage, but when he tried to attack he was flung away, crashing into a tree, and when he looked up it was only to see Usopp vanish just like the two others had.

Somewhere in the back of his head, Luffy remembered something like that happening before. His crew members disappearing, and him not knowing where they had gone. He pushed the thought to the back of his head when he saw Sanji disappear.

Sanji had been overwhelmed by anger. Usopp had called for help, reaching for him, desperately afraid of what was about to happen, and there had been no one there to help him. So in a fit of anger he had attacked. He knew that it was a stupid thing to do, knew that he would probably also disappear, but he did it anyway, hoping to get revenge.

Luffy felt hopeless. He knew that all his crew members were strong in their own way, but he also knew that out of all of them, Zoro, Sanji and himself were the strongest, and now it was up to him to keep the others safe.

He was exhausted, but he still activated Gear Second and tried to attack that oversized bear Kuma. But before he even reached him he disappeared, only to reappear in front of Franky and Nami. He saw Franky's attack be repelled, but still, he tried, and he failed. He himself was repelled, landing in what had once been a building, and was forced to watch helplessly as Franky disappeared.

He looked on as Kuma turned to Nami, and suddenly he remembered why it all seemed so familiar. He reached for Nami, and she desperately reached for him, but there was nothing to do, before she even got to say the last words she disappeared. He had looked right into her big tearful eyes as she disappeared, and now, he just wanted to curl up and die.

But there were still some of his crew there, some of his precious Nakama, and he couldn't, wouldn't, just lie there while they suffered.

He had thought that out of all of them Chopper would be safe. He was huge, and he was dangerous, and yet, he still disappeared just like the others, one touch from Kuma's paw like pads on his hands, and Chopper also disappeared, now there was only Robin left. Only one precious person left, and he ran. Ran the fastest he could, but it wasn't enough.

He was so close, almost able to touch her, and then Kuma was there and Robin wasn't. He was all alone again. Not finding the strength in him to fight anymore he just collapsed. Crumbled to the ground right in front of his enemy, but he didn't care. It was like that time with the Baron all over again. Only this time there were more Nakama, more people to rip his heart apart.

"I couldn't even save a single Nakama!". He couldn't rise from the ground, tears streamed down his face, and he just didn't want to be there anymore. He wanted them all back. It was just like with the Baron, only worse. It was the second time it had happened.

_'How could he let it happen again?'_ He clearly remembered the last time. He reminded himself of it often, just to make sure that he would never forget. But still, he had let it happen again, only this time he got to see the tears, see the fear of what was to come, spread across his crews face, and it hurt so much more.

_"__There goes the racoon-dog."_ He remembered the pain. Getting told that one of his friends just died. Getting told that you had utterly failed as captain, failed to keep your crew safe. He knew that there was no way that he could keep them from all harm, but it was his job as captain to make sure that none of them died before they had made their dreams come true, before they had seen all the wanted to see and more.

"___There goes a girl."_ Robin had been the first of the girls to go. He had seen her disappear, fought to get to her, and yet, just like with Kuma, he had only been able to watch as she slowly got devoured by the strange plant.

"_There goes the Cook." _He had yelled, screamed and cursed, but there was nothing he could do. He had been devastated, but the Baron had simply continued talking. Telling him that there only was three of his friends left, that all the others were gone, and nothing up until then had hurt as much as that.

"___There goes Pinocchio."_ He remembered that disgusting thing that had slowly devoured his crew, and he remembered the Baron telling him, slowly, one by one, who of his Nakama that had just disappeared, had just died.

"_Another girl has disappeared."_ He had tried to get free, but every time he tried to attack the Baron had pinned the attacking limb to the stone behind him. He had been unable to do anything but watch as his life slowly lost all meaning, and the Baron had loved it.

"_And the last of your friends just disappeared."_ He had stretched his neck in a desperate attempt to get to Zoro, but he couldn't reach, he had been so close when Zoro disappeared, and then he had just given up, not finding it in himself to fight anymore.

And when the Baron had asked if he wanted to die with his crew, he had been ready to say yes. It wasn't worth living without his crew. They were what made him Him. And there was no purpose in being the king of pirates if he had to sit on the top alone.

It was just like that time. There was nothing he could do but watch as his friends slowly faded away, leaving him empty and alone, not wanting to live anymore. Luffy looked up at Kuma. He knew what awaited him. Knew that soon he would suffer the same fate as his friends. And he didn't mind. If they were dead, then he would join them, and if they were alive, then he would surely find them again.

He remembered nothing of what happened after that, but the next time he awoke he was on the isle of women, and then he knew that somewhere out there, his friends were still alive, and he knew that until the day that they would meet again, they would all get stronger.

He had wanted to rush back. Get back together as soon as possible, but then he had learned of his brothers oncoming execution, and he had known that they would understand. After the war he had sent them all the message, telling them that they had two years. Two years to get stronger, to train and then get back to Sabaody Archipelago.

And the only thing he could do after that was to hope that they all understood, that his message had reached them all, and then to train. He would train harder than ever, and he would get stronger, so strong that nothing like that would ever happen again. Because he wasn't sure that he could take loosing his Nakama again.

The End.

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_This was actually harder to write than I first thought. Had to read that one chapter again and again to make sure that I missed nothing, and that I got them in the right order, and then I had to see the movie to know who disappeared when... a lot of work, but I'm satisfied! And I think that I captured the emotions that I wanted, even if it wasn't that long... _

_oh well, please review :) _


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